During the transport of articles from a first processing line to a second processing line, especially in the in feed area of packaging machines, the articles/containers usually arrive in a so called mass flow and are separated into single lanes.
Blockades during separation into the single lanes can occur. The blockages especially occur when the articles have a squared base area and are rotated around their longitudinal axis during transport. This happens for instance when articles are shifted laterally during transport and are arranged in the middle of a diagonal. This article then blocks the entrance of subsequent articles into the separate lanes, thereby hindering the further movement of these articles. This leads to massive disturbances.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,995 shows a so called chicane arranged at both sides of a conveyor line. The conveyor line narrows in the section just before the separation of the articles in single streams, so that the transported articles with a circular base area are arranged tightly packed into two rows. This arrangement facilitates the separation into single lanes. This device cannot be used to align shifted or distorted articles with a squared base area and prevent a blockade as described above.